Walking (and talking) on air for 50 yrs
Chloe Blommerde charts the history of one of the country’s longest living heartland radio stations.
It was one of New Zealand’s first private commercial radio stations – and now it’s the last.
Radio One Double X (1XX) in the Eastern Bay of Plenty is celebrating 50 years on air, after hitting the airwaves for the first time in 1971.
Since its launch, the community-driven radio station has won station of the year (nonsurveyed market) eight times at the New Zealand Radio Awards.
It’s become a platform for local news, and the first point of call in a state of emergency.
It covered major events like the 1987 Edgecumbe earthquakes, the floods of 2004 and 2005 affecting Whakata¯ne, O¯ po¯tiki and Matata¯ , and in recent times the flooding and evacuation of Edgecumbe in 2017 and the devastating eruption at Whakaari White Island in December 2019.
1XX announcer Colin Magee said that during the 2004 floods, people were calling the radio station before calling the emergency services.
The man behind much of the station’s success is managing director Glenn Smith.
Smith started with the company
in 1975 – 46 years ago – in promotions and announcing, before taking over the general manager role from Christopher Turver in 1981.
‘‘The community aspect is key for me, and it’s an opportunity to serve and grow a community,’’ Smith told the Sunday StarTimes.
‘‘Because we are in some ways off the beaten track, we’ve been able to link the entire area together. Radio is over 100 years old, but it’s stronger than ever.’’
Smith described the past 46
years as ‘‘rich with experience’’.
Yet it was the Edgecumbe quakes in 1987 that left a mark in Smith’s mind.
‘‘We had people sleeping in the building for three weeks. We dropped all of our paid advertising for a month, we just focused on the earthquake. We really responded in a way the community wanted us to.’’
1XX was the fourth independent commercial station on air – behind Radio Hauraki, Radio i, and Radio Waikato – but the first private station in a provincial region. It’s now the last of the original batch of private commercial stations that went to air in the 70s. Many have since become a ‘‘branded’’ station, yet 1XX stuck to its motto – ‘‘All Eastern Bay, all the time’’ –and remained independent.
Originally operating under the company name of Radio Whakata¯ ne, the station changed its name to Radio Bay of Plenty Limited to better reflect the coverage area and to help garner more national advertising.
Its original lineup of announcers included Paul Lineham, Fred Botica, Brian Strong, Steve Swallow and Lee Hanner.
Botica was the first voice on air, and he remembers it like it was yesterday. ‘‘I was in the studio practising … and the studio engineer came in and asked me to do the first broadcast.’’
1XX went to air at 10.30am on Wednesday, June 30. The first song played was House at Pooh Corner by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, written by Kenny Loggins.
‘‘The way the whole town and community got behind the new radio station was fantastic,’’ Botica said. ‘‘I learned the ropes and everything to do with radio. It set me up for what turned out to be a great radio career.’’
Botica left 1XX in 1973 and has spent the past 35 years in Perth, Australia.
But for one local, the station became home. Magee is the longest-serving breakfast announcer at 1XX.
Growing up in O¯ ta¯ kiri and Galatea, he joined the station in 1986 as an 18-year-old after a brief stint in farming.
He spent 10 years travelling the country for his career with his wife and quadruplets but returned home in 1998 and sat in the breakfast chair for 23 years.
For Magee, it was the 2004 floods that were a memorable moment in his career. ‘‘It unfolded so rapidly, I was getting over 100 calls an hour. People were stranded and wanted to know who they could call … and they were calling the radio station because we were following it so closely. That’s where local radio really exceeds.’’
Magee gave up his ‘‘dream job’’ in breakfast late last year; he’s now the daytime announcer, and working in sales.
Other notable names have passed through during the station’s 50 years on air.
Journalist David Boddy, who worked at 1XX in its early days, went on to be press secretary for British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Original TVNZ Lotto host Doug Harvey, TV3 anchor Leanne Malcolm, The Crowd Goes Wild’s Ric Salizzo, TVNZ 1 sports reporter Stephen Stuart, TV personality Melanie Kerr and Breakfast weather presenter Matty McLean, were also part of the station’s stable.
The station is welcoming former staff to celebrate on the evening of June 26 – a few days before its 50th on June 30.